Textile comber detaching roll drive

ABSTRACT

A textile fiber comber of the type having an oscillating nipper shaft for oscillating the nipper mechanism adjacent to a rotary bottom comb, the so-called half-lap and to a top comb, toward and away from a pair of detaching rolls. The nipper head mechanism disclosed, by the oscillating motion of its rock shaft produces all of the motions necessary for operating the nipper itself including its feed roll, the top comb, and the conversion of a uniform unrolling of the lap supply roll to the intermittent lap feed at the feed roll. The nipper cushion plate carrier is rigidly and directly mounted on the oscillating nipper shaft and has pivotally mounted on it the nipper knife carrier for movement of the nipper knife toward and away from the nipper edge. The nipper knife carrier is operated by an adjustable and resilient link connected to the comber frame so that the nipper knife remains in its clamping position for an adjustable portion of its path of travel. Movement of the nipper knife carrier also operates the lap feed roll and also the top comb carrier pivoted on the nipper knife carrier for movement as guided by a roller mounted on the comber frame. Also disclosed are nipper shaft and detaching roll drives each of which provides adjustment of the motion thereof as well as means for dynamically timing the detaching rolls to the rotary comb.

United States Patent [72] Inventors John Clifford Von Kaenel;

Gordon Campbell Anderson; Stephen David Seymore, Jr., all of Clemson,S.C. [21] Appl. No. 841,651 [22] Filed May 2,1969 A i Division of Ser.No. 585,605,

. Oct. 10, 1966, Pat. No. 3,479,669.

[45] Patented Sept. 14, 1971 [73] Assignee Maremont Corporation [54]TEXTILE COMBER DETACHING ROLL DRIVE 8 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 19/231 [51] Int. Cl. D0lg 19/20 [50] Field of Search...19/231, 232, 225, 293, 238; 74/394 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 875,932 1/1908 Jolly et al 19/232 X 1,454,484 5/1923 Nasmith19/231 1,534,784 4/1925 Horridge 19/232 1,905,300 4/1933 Mello 19/2321,905,336 4/1933 Blanchard 19/225 X 3,232,132 9%.,l w qr te m P!221FOREIGN PATENTS 459,616 6 19l3 France 19/232 2,019 1913 Great Britain19/232 Primary Examiner-Dorsey Newton Attorney-Martin KirkpatrickABSTRACT: A textile fiber comber of the type having an oscillatingnipper shaft for oscillating the nipper mechanism adjacent to a rotarybottom comb, the so-called half-lap and to a top comb, toward and awayfrom a pair of detaching rolls. The nipper head mechanism disclosed, bythe oscillating motion of its rock shaft produces all of the motionsnecessary for operating the nipper itself including its feed roll, thetop comb, and the conversion of a uniform unrolling of the lap supplyroll 1 to the intermittent lap feed at the feed roll. The nipper cushionplate carrier is rigidly and directly mounted on the oscillating nippershaft and has pivotally mounted on it the nipper knife carrier formovement of the nipper knife toward and away from the nipper edge. Thenipper knife carrier is operated by an adjustable and resilient linkconnected to the comber frame so that the nipper knife remains in itsclamping position for an adjustable portion of its path of travel.Movement of the nipper knife carrier also operates the lap feed roll andalso the top comb carrier pivoted on the nipper knife carrier formovement as guided by a roller mounted on the comber frame. Alsodisclosed are nipper shaft and detaching roll drives each of whichprovides adjustment of the motion thereof as well as means fordynamically timing the detaching rolls to the rotary comb.

PATENTEU SEPl4l97i 3,604,063

saw 02 or n FIG 20 PATENTEDSEPMISII I 3,604 063 sum 03 0F 11 FIG 2bPATENTED sen 4m SHEET 08 0F 11 PATENIED SEE 1 4 IHTI sum 10 or 11'rax'rru: COMBER nr-zrxcmuc nou. mu'vs This invention is a division ofour pending application Ser. No. 585,605, filed Oct. 10, i966, andrelates to combers for combing a textile fiber lab, and, moreparticularly, to novel nipper mechanisms. and detaching roll adjustingmechanisms for .such combers as well as novel drives useful with suchmechanisms and otherwise.

Textile fiber combers of the type having an oscillating nipper shaft foroscillating the nipper mechanism adjacent to a rotary bottom comb, theso-called half-lap, and to a top comb, toward and away from a pair ofdetaching rolls in order intermittently to feed andcomb the fibers of alap have long been known in the textile art. l-leretofore, such combershave been subject to a number of deficiencies, mostly resulting fromtheir mechanical complication. Thus, they were not only difficult to setup, but their speed in terms of nips per minute was limited, in that toohigh speeds caused'inefficient combing, not only in terms of the qualityof the combed lap produced, but also as to the unwanted high percentageof coil produced.

In an attempt to meet these deficiencies of known combers, especially inregard to speed of operation, it is a primary object of the comber ofthe present invention to produce a novel, mechanically simplified, yethighly efficient nipper head mechanism, together with novel adjustmentand drive means for operating it and the cooperating detaching rolls.

The unique nipper head mechanism of the invention, by the oscillatingmotion of its rock shaft, produces all of the motions necessary foroperation the nipper itself including its feed roll, the top comb, andeven the conversion of a uniform unrolling of the lap supply roll to theintermittent lap feed at the feed roll. In order to accomplish all ofthese functions, the nipper mechanism of the invention has a nippercushion plate carrier pivotally and directly mounted on the oscillatingnipper shaft for oscillating movement therewith providing an arcuatepath of travel of the nipping edge of the cushion plate toward and awayfrom the detaching rolls from a retracted position away from thedetaching rolls to an advanced position adjacentto them. A lap feed rollis rotatably mounted in the nipper cushion axis for advancing a lap oversaid nipping edge.

According to one aspect of the invention, a nipper knife carrier ispivotably mounted on the nipper cushion plate carrier for movement abouta pivot axis supporting the nipper knife carried thereby for movementtoward and away from the nipping edge. The nipper knife carrier isoperated by connecting link means, preferably both adjustable andresilient, connecting the comber frame and the nipper knife carrier at apoint spaced from its pivot axison the nipper cushion plate carrier,efi'ective resiliently to urge the nipper knife toward the nipping edgeof the cushion plate to clamp said lap therebetween at least when saidnipper cushion plate is in its retracted position. However, with thepreferred-resilient connection, the nipper knife remains in its clampingposition for a portion of its path of travel toward and away from itsretracted position. Thereafter, during continued movement of the nippercushion plate toward the detaching rolls, the nipper knife carrierpivots on the nipper cushion plate carrier to move the nipper knife awayfrom the nipping edge and release the lap clamped therebetween so thatit may be advanced by the feed roll.

The opening movement of the nipper knife carrier also serves to advancethe feed through the lap feed roll drive means which, in the preferredembodiment, includes a ratchet on the feed roll and a pawl mounted onsaid nipper knife carrier means at a point spaced from its pivot axis onsaid nipper cushion plate carrier means. This arrangement serves'toadvance the feed roll and the lap during movement of the nipper cushionplate toward the detaching rolls after movement of said nipper knifeaway from the nipper cushion plate.

Another important aspect of the nipper head mechanism of the inventionis its operation of the top comb positioned in advance of said nipperedge and knife to move it to and from its operating position adjacentthe detaching rolls along a desired line of travel. The nipper headmechanism of the invention provides this function by a top comb carrierpivotally mounted on the nipper cushion plate carrier for movement abouta pivot axis and a top comb carrier support preferably including camfollower rollers mounted on the comber for supporting the top combthrough cam surfaces on its carrier for movement of the top comb towardand away from the detaching rolls. Such movement is in a generallystraight path of travel which approaches the arcuate path of travelofthe nipping edge during movement of the nipper mechanism toward saiddetaching rolls. The desired top comb motion is thus produced directlyby the-arcuate rocking of the nipper cushion plate carrier without theneed for a separate drive.

A further important aspect of the nipper mechanism of the invention isits unique use in converting the uniform speed of rotation of the rollof supply lap carried on the lap roll advancing rolls mounted on saidcomber frame to the intermittent advancing movement of the nippercushion late feed will, while accommodating the lap slackness that wouldotherwise be produced by the swinging of the nipper mechanism. This isaccomplished by an accumulator rod means which is mounted on the nippercushion plate carrier for movement therewith, its swinging'movementbeing effective alternately to accumulate the lap during cushion platemovement and to release-the accumulated lap during rotation of said feedroll. To produce the desired motion, such accumulator rod is mounted onthe nipper cushion plate carrier in a position on the opposite side ofsaid oscillating nipper shaft from said nipper cushion plate formovement in a direction opposite to that of said nipper cushion plate toaccumulate the lap while said nipper cushion plate is moving toward thedetaching rolls and to release the accumulated lap during rotation ofthe cushion plate feed roll.

Still other objects and features of the nipper head mechanism of theinvention will appear from the detailed description and drawings of apreferred embodiment thereof which appears below.

Another aspect of the comber of the invention is directed to therelationship, both from the standpoint of distance and geometry of theoscillating nipper mechanism which provides fiber clamping along a lineof contact at a nipper mechanism nip and the detaching rolls providingfiber clamping along a line of contact at the detaching roll nip. inthis regard, the invention provides a fixed, usually lower, detachingroll having power means for rotating it and a movable,-usually upper,detaching roll having adjustable mounting means for adjusting it to anydesired position around the fixed detaching roll in pressure contacttherewith to clamp fiber therebetween. Such adjustment of the movabledetaching roll establishes an adjustable distance and geometry betweensaid nipper mechanism nip and said detaching roll nip, which is usefulalone or in combination with adjusting means for adjusting the forwardextent of oscillation of the nipper mechanism for variation of saiddistance and geometry independently of the adjustment of said movabledetaching roll.

Further objects and features of the adjustable detaching rolls mechanismwill be apparent from the detailed description and drawings of thepreferred embodiment of the invention which appears below.

. Although the nipper head mechanism of the invention may be driven bythe oscillation of its rock shaft by any suitable means, it is preferredthat the nipper shaft drive as well as the detaching roll drive of theinvention be utilized, since such is not only capable of high speedoperation, but also provides for the simple adjustment of the amount ofarcuate swinging movement of the nipper cushion plate.

in the nipper shaft drive of the invention, there is provided a crankpin eccentrically mounted at one end on said drive shaft in rotatablyadjustable position and an adjusting disk means having the other end ofsaid crank pin eccentrically mounted for driving rotation therein in aposition axially spaced from the axis of said disk. Connecting the diskwith the nipper rock shaft is a reciprocating drive in the form of a rodand slide having one element thereof rigidly connected to the nippershaft to rock said nipper shaft, the other element thereof carrying theadjusting disk for adjustable rotation therein. Adjusting means areprovided both for rotatably positioning the crank pin within itseccentric mounting on the drive shaft and for rotatably positioning itwithin its eccentric mounting on the adjusting disk adjustably to varythe amplitude and the phase of the rocking of the nipper shaft. It is aparticular feature of the adjusting mechanism of the invention that therocking motion of the nipper shaft may be adjusted to begin at the samerearward point regardless of the extent thereof.

The invention also provides a novel detaching roll drive, as well asmeans for dynamically timing the detaching rolls to the rotary comb.

The detaching roll drive of the invention for driving an oscillatingdetaching roll shaft for alternating advancing and reversing rotationfrom a rotating drive shaft comprises an adder gear means such as anepicyclic or planetary gear mechanism providing a rotary oscillatingoutput shaft connected to the detaching roll shaft producing the sum oftwo rotary input shafts, a rotary input shaft connected to said drivingshaft for driving one of said adder gear means input shafts at apredetermined uniform speed and an oscillating input means connected tosaid driving shaft for oscillating the other of said adder gear inputshaft in a predetermined patter of oscillation. According to theinvention, the oscillating input means consistsof a cam shaft connectedto said driving shaft having mounted axially spaced thereon a pair ofexternal conjugate cams having their conjugate cam surfaces arcuatelyspaced, preferably by about 180 from one another, and a follower gearmeans connected to the other adder input shaft and having mountedthereon a pair of cam followers cooperating with the conjugate camsurfaces for oscillating the follower gear means about an axis displacedfrom said cam followers in the predetermined pattern of oscillationestablished by said conjugate cam surfaces. Preferably, the rotary shaftinput means includes variable speed drive means for varying the speed ofthe rotary shaft input relatively to that of the cam shaft.

For dynamic timing, the detaching roll drive has an epicyclic gearinterposed between the drive shaft and said cam shaft and timing meanssuch as a manually operated gear for rotatably adjusting the position ofone element of the epicyclic gear for timing the rotation of saiddetaching rolls relatively to that of said rotary comb.

Further objects and features of the drives of the invention will appearfrom the following detailed description and drawings of a preferredembodiment thereof.

FIG. 1 is a transverse cross section of the head mechanism of a comberembodying the present invention;

FIGS. 2a and 2b are enlarged front views, partly broken away, showing,respectively, the left and right sides of the operating elements of FIG.1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged transverse cross-sectional views showing aportion of the comber operating elements respectively in their back andforward positions;

FIG. 5 is a comber-timing chart;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing of the drive elements of the invention forthe operating elements of FIGS. 1 through 4;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are, respectively, end and side detail views of the nipperdrive elements of FIG. 6, and

H68. 9 and 10 are, respectively, end and side detail views of thedetaching roll drive elements of FIG. 6.

NIPPER ASSEMBLY MECHANISM 20. Above the nipper assembly are mounted apair of transversely spaced lap-supporting shafts 22, 24 on which asliver lap 25 is carried to unroll a lap 26 therefrom and pass it to thenipper assembly 10. All of such shafts and rolls are mounted in suitablebearings on the frame 11 of the comber and are driven by drive elementsherein after described.

The nipper assembly 10 has an elongated cushion plate 30 mounted at itsends on rock shaft 12 by means of lower and upper cushion plate clampbrackets 32, 34, respectively. Cushion plate 30 is mounted on the lowerface of lower cushion plate bracket 32 by means of bolts 33 while theupper and lower cushion plate brackets are clamped together and ontorock shaft 12 by clamping bolts 35, 37.

A fluted feed roll 40 is mounted within the recess of cushion plate 30by means of a pair of vertical plungers 42 mounted for sliding movementin vertical bores 43 on the lower surface of lower cushion plate 32 andpressed downwardly by compression springs 44 within said bores to urgefeed roll 40 downwardly toward the surface of cushion plate 30 forfeeding sliver therebetween upon rotation of the feed roll.

The nipper knife 50 extends along the forward edge of cushion plate 30for cooperation therewith in the usual manner and is supported at itsends by nipper knife brackets 52 to which it is bolted by bolts 53.Nipper knife brackets 52 are mounted at their rearward ends for pivotalmovement about rear pivot shaft 54 and at their intermediate portionsfor pivotal movement about intermediate pivot shafts 57. Rear pivotshaft 54 extends through and is pivotally mounted at the ends of cushionplate 30 for support thereby. Intermediate pivot shafts 57 are mountedon machine frame 11 by means of a resiliently compressible link-mountingelement generally designated 60. Such link-mounting elements have aninternal plunger 62 mounted directly on frame 11 and a housing 64surrounding plunger 62. Intermediate pivot shaft 57 is mounted on thelower end of housing 64 and a compression spring 66 is interposedbetween housing 64 and an abutment 63 on plunger 62. For adjusting themaximum travel of plunger 62 relatively to housing 64, a sleeve 68 isthreaded to housing 64, said sleeve having an inturned end carrying aresilient stop member 69 positioned to be contacted by plunger abutment63 to limit its travel.

A top comb 70 carried by a support rod 71 extends along the forward sideof nipper knife 50 and is adjustably mounted at its ends on top combsupport arms 72 mounted at their rear ends on rear pivot shaft 54. Thelower surfaces 73 of said arms function as cam surfaces supported by camfollower rollers 74 mounted on frame 11 of the comber, preferably foradjustment of said rollers in a vertical direction by means of ancecentric mounting of said rollers. The anns 72 are maintained withtheir cam surfaces 73 in continuous contact with rollers 74 by means oftorsion springs 76 connected between rear pivot shaft 54 and an abutmenton nipper knife brackets 52. As so arranged, and as hereinafter morefully explained, the necessary top comb motion is uniquely producedwithout any drive system other than that of the nipper rock shaft andthe nipper assembly of the invention.

In addition to providing the nipper knife and top comb motion, thenipper assembly of the invention is arranged to drive feed roll 40 bymeans of ratchet wheels 46 mounted on feed roll 40 and a pawl 47pivotally mounted on arms 48 forming a part of and extending downwardlyof nipper knife brackets 52 below rear pivot shaft 54. A spring-pressedplunger 49 is provided interposed between the rear ends of pawls 47 andnipper knife brackets 52 to maintain pawls 47 in contact with the teethof ratchet wheels 46.

The nipper assembly also provides means effective to convert a constantspeed feed of lap 26 around the rear lap supporting roll 24 to anintermittent feed at feed roll 40 and to take up slack in the lap causedby forward movement of the nipper assembly mechanism. This isaccomplished by accumulator bar 80 which extends between the forwardupper ends of upper clamp brackets 34 for movement therewith in aforward and back direction of movement opposite to that of the cushionplate 30.

DETACI'IING ROLLS ADJUSTING MECHANISM Top detaching roll 15, accordingto the invention, is mounted for arcuate swinging movement about itscooperating lower detaching roll [4 for adjustment of the distancebetween the nipper and the line of contact of said detaching rolls aswell as the angle of its presentation to the detaching rolls, ashereinafter more fully explained. This is accomplished by mounting upperrear detaching roll on a bracket 27 mounted for pivotal movement aboutthe axis of lower detaching roll 14, the bracket being held in a desiredadjusted position by a clamp screw 29 extending through an arcuate slot28 in the machine frame 11. It is shown in its adjusted position at 150in FIG. 1.

NIPPER ASSEMBLY OPERATION Turning now to the operation of the nipperassembly mechanism of the comber of FIGS. 1 through 4, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the comber art that the various rolls andshafts thereof must be driven by a suitable drive mechanism to drive thehalf-lap shaft 18 and lap-supporting shafts 22, 24 at constant speeds,to swing nipper rock shaft 12 back and forth through a predeterminedarc, and alternately to advance and reverse the detaching rolls [4, 15,l6, 17, all in timed relationship to one another. Although a variety ofdrive mechanisms known to the art may be utilized for these purposes,those preferred are the novel drive mechanisms hereinafter describedwith reference to FIGS. 6 through 10.

As for the operation of the nipper assembly mechanism itself, it is anespecially valuable characteristic of the nipper assembly of theinvention that it produces all of the required intermitt'e'nt motions ofthe cushion plate 30, feed roll 40, nipper knife 50 and top comb 70 aswell as that of converting the uniform feed of lap 26 by lap supportingshafts 22, 24 to the intermittent feed at feed roll 40 while maintainingappropriate tension therebetween by compensating for lap slacknessproduced by forward motion of cushion plate 30. Such motions and theirtiming are illustrated in the comber-timing chart of FIG. 5, togetherwith those of the detaching rolls and half lap.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the nipper mechanism elements as they are located attheir extreme back (IN) and forward (OUT) positions, respectively, withthe forward and dotted back positions of accumulator rod 80 also beingshown in FIG. 1 at 80 and 80a, respectively, to show its cooperationboth with lapsupporting shaft 24 and nipper rock shaft 12 to accumulatea loop of lap 26 therebetween when feed roll 40 is not operated toadvance the lap and when the forward notion of cushion plate 30 producesslackness.

As is convention, the cushion plate 30 is rigidly mounted on nipper rockshaft 12 and swings with it to move the cushion plate 30 carrying feedroll 40 alternately toward and away from the rear set of detaching rollsl4, 15. As will be explained hereafter in connection with thedescription of the nipper rock shaft drive mechanism, the arcuate extentof such swinging movement may be adjusted from a fixed rear positionshown in FIG. 3.

During the initial portion of the advance of the cushion plate 30 andnipper knife 50 from the rearward position shown in FIG. 3 to theforward position shown in FIG. 4, and in FIG. 3 in dotted lines at 30aand 50a, the lower edge of the nipper knife 50 remains resilientlypressed into contact with cushion plate 30, not beginning its movementupwardly therefrom to release the lap clamped therebetween unit itreaches almost the halfway point in its line of travel, shown as breakpoint 51 in said line of travel shown as a dot-dash line in FIG. 3. Thisis a valuable feature of the mechanism of the invention as it providesfor the necessary closing of the nipper knife prior to the start ofcombing by the half lap, as can be seen from the FIG. 5 timing chart.Also, actuation of feed roll 40 to advance the lap 26 does not occuruntil the cushion plate 30 has reached such point in its forward travel,which prevents premature feeding, that is, the building up of the lap bythe feed roll between it and the nipper knife before the latter opens.

tached between said pivot shafts and the comber frame 11.-

More specifically, as cushion plate 30 swings forward, it carries withit nipper knife brackets 52 by reason of their mounting on rear pivotshaft 54 supported at the rear of the cushion plate. Such forwardmovement of the nipper knife brackets, however, also moves theirintermediate pivot shafts 57 in a forward direction. The nipper knife 50maintains its clamping force against the forward edge of cushion plate30, elongating compressible mounting elements 60, until such elongationresults in abutment 63 thereof coming into contact with its stop 69. Atthis point, forward movement of intermediate pivot shafts 57 ceases, sothat further forward movementof rear pivot shaft 54 with cushion plate30 causes the pivoting of nipper knife brackets 52 with cushion plate 30causes the pivoting of nipper knife brackets 52 about said pivot shaft.This results in the rapid opening movement of nipper knife 50 away fromthe cushion plate (at 51 in FIG. 3) to its fully open position (dottedposition 50a in FIG. 3 and as shown in FIG. 4). It also results in theforward movement of pawl 47, actuating feed roll 40 and advancing theend of lap 26 toward the detaching rolls, which feed continues until thecushion plate reaches its most forward position.

During the entire forward movement of the nipper plate, upper comb 70 isbeing moved forward and somewhat downwardly to its operating regionclose to and slightly below the nip of the rear detaching rolls 14, 15.This is accomplished by reason of the mounting of top comb arms 72 attheir rear ends on rear pivot shaft 54 and the support of their lowercam surfaces 73 adjacent their forward ends on cam follower rollers 74adjustably mounted on the comber frame 11. This unique arrangement makespossible the operation of the top comb 70 during advanceof the lap bothby the feed roll 40 and the detaching rolls without the necessity of anytop comb drive mechanism other than that carried by the nipper head.

The rearward motion of the nipper head 10 from its forward positionresults in the immediate stopping of the advance of feed roll 40, withthe nipper knife 50 closing as cushion plate 30 again reaches a positionabout halfway of its travel, with knife 50 at position 51 (FIG. 3), sothat combing by the halflap needles can begin before the nipper assemblyreaches its rearward position. From this point, then, and for theremainder of the rearward travel of the nipper assembly to its rearwardposition, the free end of lap 26 forward of knife 50 and cushion plate30 is combed by the half-lap needles 20 carried on half-lap shaft l8.

DETACHING ROLL ADJUSTING MECHANISM OPERATION As is known in the comberart, the noil percentage is a function of the distance between the lineof contact of the detaching rolls l4 and 15 and the line of contact ofthe feed roll 40 and cushion plate 30 with nipper head in positionclosest to said detaching rolls, shown best in FIG. 4.

The arrangement of the present invention sets this distance by adjustingthe angular location of detaching roll 15 relative to detaching roll 14,as shown in FIG. 1 at 15 and 15a.

A particularly desirable feature of such an arrangement is that not onlyis the distance changed, but also the path over which the fibers aredrafted, in which the nose of the cushion plate 30 acts as a snubber tocontrol the underside of the lap as it is being drafted. This assists inthe control of the fibers being drafted through the top comb. Anotherconsideration arises from the action of detaching rolls l4 and 15 as acatching device, i.e., catching the leading fringe of the fibers in thelap as it is thrown upward in an arcuate motion under the outward actionof the nipper assembly. At higher speeds this throw and catch geometryor presentation of detaching rolls to cushion plate needs to beadjustable, and-the present invenone another.

DRIVE MECHANISMS The operating elements of the comber of the inventionas above described are driven by mechanism schematically illustrated inFIG. 6, with certain details thereof being more fully shown in FIGS. 7through 10. Referring to FIG. 6, the drive system of the inventionincludes a main drive motor 100 driving the half-lap shaft 18 throughgears 102, 104. A hand crank 106 is preferably provided for connectionto the shaft of motor 100.

Half-lap shaft 18 drives nipper head shaft 12 for rocking movement bymeans of an eccentric drive best shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 including aslide connector 110 and slide rod 112, the slide rod being rigidlymounted on the end of nipper head shaft 12 by a clamp 114. Slideconnector 110 is driven to rock slide rod 112 through an adjustablestroke by means of a pair of eccentrics, including a driving disk 116mounted on the end of half-lap shaft 18 and having an eccentric bore 118therein. An eccentric crank pin 120 is mounted at its one end withinsaid bore 1 18 for clamping therein by lamp bolt 123 and at its otherend in suitable bearings within the eccentric bore 126 of a second disk124 mounted for rotative adjustment in slide 110 at a position spacedfrom the axis of slide rod 112. Another clamp bolt 119 is provided forclamping disk 124 within slide 110. Eccentric crank pin 120 has acircular indicia plate 121 cooperating with a fixed indicia plate 117 ondrive disk 116 and can be rotated within disk 116 by means of a squarelug 122 extending forwardly through bore 126 of eccentric slide disk124. Slide disk 124 also is provided with indicia 125 cooperating with afixed indicia 111 on slide 110 and can be rotated within slide 110 bymeans of a hexagonal lug 127 forming a part of slide disk 124 andsurrounding its bore 126.

To vary the amplitude only of the stroke of slide rod 112 and hence ofnipper head drive shaft 12, the indicia 125 and 121 are each set to thesame number with respect to their fixed indicia, which results inshortening or lengthening the crank arm distance between the axis of thehalf-lap drive shaft 18 and the axis of slide disk 124. Morespecifically, the adjustment of crank pin 120 within bore 118 varies thecrank arm length or throw thereof, thus varying both the amplitude andterminal positions of rod 112's stroke or swing. The adustment of slidedisk 124 displaces the rotatable center of bearing bore 126 relativelyto nipper drive shaft 12, shifting rod 112 and shaft 12 about thelatter's, axis so as to vary the phase relationship between theiroscillatory movement and the rotary movement of shaft 18, but notchanging the amplitude of their stroke or swing. By adjusting both crankpin 120 and slide disk 124 to similar index marks, the back position ofthe nipper assembly stroke remains virtually unchanged, while varyingthe distance between the forward position or cushion plate 30 anddetaching rolls l4 and 15. Such adjustment, when combined with theadjustment of said detaching rolls, as described above, provides aunique freedom of adjustment both as to distance and presentationgeometry.

The lower detaching rolls l6 and 14, like the nipper head rock shaft 12,extend for the length of the comber and are driven by the drivemechanism shown in FIG. 6 and as to certain details thereof, in FIGS. 9and 10. The motion of the detaching rolls, peculiarly to combers,requires that such rolls be alternately rotated in a forward directionand then in a rearward direction, with the forward direction of advancebeing greater than the rearward direction. Such motion, according to theapparatus of the present invention, is taken as being made up of areciprocating motion having a relatively complicated time-speedrelationship and a constant advance motion. Also incorporated in thedrive apparatus of the invention is means for timing the reciprocatingdetaching roll motion relatively to the half-lap shaft 18 and forvarying the speed of the constant advance motion relatively to thehalf-lap shaft 18.

The detaching rolls 14, 16 are driven by their gears 82, 84,respectively, and their common gears 86, 88 by the sun shaft 132 of adetaching motion planetary epicyclic gear mechanism 130, the internalring gear 134 of which is driven at a constant advancing speed and theplanet cage 136 carrying planet gears 137 of which is reciprocated.

The advancing speed drive is transmitted to ring gear 134 of planetarygear mechanism by a gear 138 on advancing speed drive shaft 140. Shaft140 is itself driven through a variable speed ratio drive 142 having anappropriate manual controller 144, drive 142 being driven through itsinput gear 146 by gear 148 on half-lap shaft 18 through the interposedplanet cage driving gear 152 of timing planetary epicyclic gearmechanism 150, which has three operating gear elements including sungear 155, planet gears 153 and internal ring gear.

The reciprocating detaching roll motion is provided by cam operation ofa gear sector 160 reciprocated by a cam shaft 154 which forms the sunshaft carrying sun gear 155 of timing planetary epicyclic gear mechanism150, the latter having its planet cage 151 carrying planet gears 153driven by half-lap gear 148 and having the rotational position of itsexterior driving ring gear 156 controlled by handle 159 of manuallyadjustable gear 158 for dynamic adjustment of the angular position ofthe detaching rolls relatively to that of the half lap. As morespecifically shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, gear sector 160 is pivoted on apivot shaft 162 at one end and at the other end is provided with gearteeth 164 intermeshing with the teeth the planet gear cage 136. Acentral opening 166 is provided in gear sector 160, through which passescam shaft 154. A pair of cam followers 168, 170, mounted on oppositesides of said opening, contact cams 172, 174, said cams having externalconjugate cam surfaces providing the desired reciprocating detachingroll motion. Initial adjustment and adjustment for war may becompensated by increasing the diameter of cam followers 168, 174.

The detaching motion planet gear cage 136 is also provided with aresilient restraint by means of a cam surface 176 thereon having afollower'178 attached to the arm of a torque tub spring 180 connected atits other end to the machine frame through torsion bar 181.

The use of such resilient restraint is preferred because of theacceleration caused inertia loads of the detaching rolls and theirdrives are greater in the advancing direction than the reversingdirection. By means of the resilient restraint system, the loading ofthe machine elements in the direction of advancing movement of thedetaching rolls is reduced to that in the reverse direction. This occurson the high side of cam 176 at that point. The energy stored in theresilient restraint system is utilized to assist in driving thedetaching rolls and their drives in the advancing direction.

DRIVE MECHANISMS OPERATION The operation of the drive mechanism of FIGS.6 through 10 has in general been set forth in connection with thestructures therein shown. However, to summarize, operation of eithermotor 100 or hand crank 106 will result in the direct gear drive of thehalf-lap shaft 18 and, through reduction gear mechanism 98, change gear96 and gears 92 and 94, the two lap feed shafts 22, 24. The nipper headrock shaft 12 is driven by a crank action through eccentrics 120, 124 onhalf-lap shaft 18. The detaching rolls 14, 16 are driven by detachingmotion planetary gear mechanism 130, such mechanism being provided witha constant advancing input from variable ratio drive 142 and areciprocating input from the cam operated gear sector 160, thecooperating cams 172, 174 being driven from half-lap shaft 18 throughtiming planetary gear mechanism 150 by its manual adjusting handle 159for timing the motion of the detaching rolls l4, 16 with respect tohalflap shaft 18.

SUMMARY The operation of the drive mechanism of FIGS. 6 through 10 hasin general been set forth in connection with the structures thereinshown. However, to summarize, operation of either motor 100 or handcrank 106 will result in the direct gear drive of the half-lap shaft 18and, through reduction gear mechanism 98, change gear 96 and gears 92and 94, the two lap feed shafts 22, 24. The nipper head rock shaft 12 isdriven by a crank action through eccentrics 120, 124 on half-lap shaftIS. The detaching rolls l4, 16 are driven by detaching motion planetarygear mechanism 130, such mechanism being provided with a constantadvancing input from variable ratio drive 142 and a reciprocating inputfrom the cam operated gear sector 160, the cooperating cams 172, 174being driven from half-lap shaft 18 through timing planetary gearmechanism 150 by its manual adjusting handle 159 for timing the motionof the detaching rolls 14, 16 with respect to halflap shaft 18.

SUMMARY It will thus be seen that the above described textile fibercomber inventions provide both novel nipper mechanisms and detachingroll nip point adjustment mechanisms, as well as novel nipper mechanismand detaching roll drive and adjustment mechanism useful alone or incombination. Various modifications of these inventions, within thespirit thereof and the scope of the appended claims, will occur to thoseskilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

l. in a textile fiber lap comber having a rotatable main shaft, meansfor rotating said main shaft during operation of the comber, anoscillating nipper mechanism and a rotary comb driven from said mainshaft, and a pair of detaching rolls in pressure contact with each otherto define a fiber clamping nip therebetween, said detaching rolls beingadapted during each cycle of operation to be alternatively rotateddifferent amounts in advancing and reversing directions to produce a netadvance,

a detaching roll drive for driving from said main shaft an oscillatingdetaching roll shaft for alternating rotation of said detaching rollscomprising adder gear means having two rotary input shafts and an outputshaft connected to said detaching roll shaft providing a rotaryoscillating output from the sum of said two rotary input shafts,

rotary input shaft means connected to said main shaft for driving one ofsaid adder gear means input shafts at a predetermined uniform speed,

oscillating input means connected to said main shaft for oscillating theother of said added gear input shafts in a predetermined pattern ofoscillation,

said oscillating input means comprising a cam shaft connected to saidmain shaft having mounted axially spaced thereon a pair of externalconjugate cams having their conjugate cam surfaces arcuately spaced fromone another, and

follower gear means connected to said other adder input shaft and havingmounted thereon a pair of cam followers cooperating with said conjugatecam surfaces for oscillating said follower gear means about an axisdisplaced from said cam followers in said predetermined pattern ofoscillation established by said conjugate cam surfaces.

2. In a textile fiber lap comber as claimed in claim 1 wherein saidadder gear means is an epicyclic gear.

3. In a textile fiber lap comber as claimed in claim 1 wherein saidrotary input shaft means includes variable speed drive means for varyingthe speed of said rotary input shaft means relatively to that of saidcam shaft.

4. In a textile fiber lap comber as claimed in claim 3 wherein said mainshaft drives a rotary comb further including epicyclic gear meansinterposed between said main shaft and said cam shaft, and

timing means for rotatably adjusting the position of one element of saidepicyclic gear means for timing the rotation of said detaching rollsrelatively to that of said rotary comb.

5. In a textile fiber lap comber having a rotatable main shaft, meansfor rotating said main shaft during operation of the comber, anoscillating nipper mechanism and a rotary comb driven from said mainshaft, and a pair of detaching rolls in pressure contact with each otherto define a fiber clamping nip therebetween, said detaching rolls beingadapted during each cycle of operation to be alternately rotateddifferent amounts in advancing and reversing directions to produce a netadvance, the improvement comprising:

adjustable means mounting one of said detaching rolls for adjustablemovement around the circumference of the other of said detaching rollsto adjust as desired the distance and geometry between said nippermechanism and said detaching roll nip;

detaching roll drive means connected to said main shaft and saiddetaching rolls for imparting said rotation to said detaching rolls,said drive means including adjusting means adjustable during operationof the comber for then adjusting as desired the timing of said rotationof said detaching rolls, and

energy storage resilient restraint means connected to said detachingrolls for storing energy imparted to the same from said main shaftduring the terminal portion of the rotative movement of said detachingrolls in the reversing direction thereof, and for releasing said storedenergy during the initial portion of the rotative movement of saiddetaching rolls in the advancing direction thereof to assist in drivingsaid detaching rolls in said advancing direction.

6. A comber as in claim 5, wherein said detaching roll drive meansincludes epicyclic gear means having three operating gear elements, oneof said elements being operativcly connected to said main drive shaft, asecond of said elements being operatively connected to said other ofsaid detaching rolls, and the third of said elements adjustablyinterconnecting said first and second elements for adjustably varying asdesired the phase relationship between the rotation of said drive shaftand the rotation of said detaching rolls.

7. In a textile fiber lap comber having a rotatable main shaft, meansfor rotating said main shaft during operation of the comber, and adetaching roll adapted during each cycle of operation to be alternatelyrotated different amounts in advancing and reversing directions toproduce a net advance, the improvement comprising:

primary detaching roll drive means connected to an driven by said mainshaft for imparting said rotation to said detaching roll; and energystorage restraint means connected to said detaching roll for storingenergy imparted to the same by said primary drive means during rotationof said detaching roll in its reversing direction, and for releasingsaid stored energy during rotation of said detaching roll in itsadvancing direction to assist said primary drive means in driving saiddetaching roll in said advancing direction,

said energy storage restraint means including resilient means and camand follower means interposed between said resilient means and saiddetaching roll effective to limit the respective storage and release ofenergy to the terminal portion of said reversing movement and theinitial portion of said advancing movement of said detaching roll.

8. A comber as in claim 7, wherein said primary drive means includesadjusting means adjustable during operation of the comber for thenadjustably varying as desired the timing of said rotation of saiddetaching roll.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent 3 ,604 ,063Dated September 14 1971 John Clifford Von Kaenel, Gordon CampbellAnderson Invent0r($) and SIeDhen David Seymore Jr.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 1, line 5, insert now Patent No. 3,479,669 following "1966"; line6, "lab" should read lap line 22, "coil" should read noil line 31,"operation" should read operating line 36, "pivotally" should be rigid-1y and line 42, "axis" should be plate Col. 2, line 6, "for" should readframe and line 20,

"late" should read plate and "will" should be roll Col. 3, line 26,"patter" should read pattern Col. 5, line 51, "convention" should readconventional and line 65, "unit" should read until Col. 6, lines 19, and20, the following is deleted "with cushion plate 30 causes the pivotingof knife brackets 52";

Col. 7, line 27, "lamp" should read clamp and lines 45 tc 47, delete"which results in shortening or lengthening the crank arm distancebetween the axis of the half-lap drive shaft 18 and the axis of slidedisk 124".

Col. 8, line 21 following "ring gear" insert 157 line 27, following'exterior" insert ring line 28, preceding "gear 156" delete "ring" andfollowing "gear 156 insert of its internal ring gear 157 line 33,following "with the teeth" insert of line 41, "war" should read wear andline 46, "tub"should read tube Col. 9, lines 4 to 21 are deleted.

Col. 10, line 52 of claim 5, "an" should read and Signed and sealed this4th day of Apr-i1 1972 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents 90405911069 USCOMM-DC eoavs-pss a U 5 GOVERNMENT PQYNTINGQFFICE 1969 0-355-334

1. In a textile fiber lap comber having a rotatable main shaft, meansfor rotating said main shaft during operation of the comber, anoscillating nipper mechanism and a rotary comb driven from said mainshaft, and a pair of detaching rolls in pressure contact with each otherto define a fiber clamping nip therebetween, said detaching rolls beingadapted during each cycle of operation to be alternatively rotateddifferent amounts in advancing and reversing directions to produce a netadvance, a detaching roll drive for driving from said main shaft anoscillating detaching roll shaft for alternating rotation of saiddetaching rolls comprising adder gear means having two rotary inputshafts and an output shaft connected to said detaching roll shaftproviding a rotary oscillating output from the sum of said two rotaryinput shafts, rotary input shaft means connected to said main shaft fordriving one of said adder gear means input shafts at a predetermineduniform speed, oscillating input means connected to said main shaft foroscillating the other of said added gear input shafts in a predeterminedpattern of oscillation, said oscillating input means comprising a camshaft connected to said main shaft having mounted axially spaced thereona pair of external conjugate cams having their conjugate cam surfacesarcuately spaced from one another, and follower gear means connected tosaid other adder input shaft and having mounted thereon a pair of camfollowers cooperating with said conjugate cam surfaces for oscillatingsaid follower gear means about an axis displaced from said cam followersin said predetermined pattern of oscillation established by saidconjugate cam surfaces.
 2. In a textile fiber lap comber as claimed inclaim 1 wherein said adder gear means is an epicyclic gear.
 3. In atextile fiber lap comber as claimed in claim 1 wherein said rotary inputshaft means includes variable speed drive means for varying the speed ofsaid rotary input shaft means relatively to that of said cam shaft. 4.In a textile fiber lap comber as claimed in claim 3 wherein said mainshaft drives a rotary comb further including epicyclic gear meansinterposed between said main shaft and said cam shaft, and timing meansfor rotatably adjusting the position of one element of said epicyclicgear means for timing the rotation of said detaching rolls relatively tothat of said rotary comb.
 5. In a textile fiber lap comber having arotatable main shaft, means for rotating said main shaft duringoperation of the comber, an oscillating nipper mechanism and a rotarycomb driven from said main shaft, and a pair of detaching rolls inpressure contact with each other to define a fiber clamping niptherebetween, said detaching rolls being adapted during each cycle ofoperation to be alternately rotated different amounts in advancing andreversing directions to produce a net advance, the improvementcomprising: adjustable means mounting one of said detaching rolls foradjustable movement around the circumference of the other of saiddetaching rolls to adjust as desired the distance and geometry betweensaid nipper mechanism and said detaching roll nip; detaching roll drivemeans connected to said main shaft and said detaching rolls forimparting said rotation to said detaching rolls, said drive meansincluding adjusting means adjustable during operation of the comber forthen adjusting as desired the timing of said rotation of said detachingrolls, and energy storage resilient restraint means connected to saiddetaching rolls for storing energy imparted to the same from said mainshaft during the terminal portion of the rotative movement of saiddetaching rolls in the reversing direction thereof, and for releasingsaid stored energy during the initial portion of the rotative movementof said detaching rolls in the advancing direction thereof to assist indriving said detaching rolls in said advancing direction.
 6. A comber asin claim 5, wherein said detaching roll drive means includes epicyclicgear means having three operating gear elements, one of said elementsbeing operatively connected to said main drive shaft, a second of saidelements being operatively connected to said other of said detachingrolls, and the third of said elements adjustably interconnecting saidfirst and second elements for adjustably varying as desired the phaserelationship between the rotation of said drive shaft and the rotationof said detaching rolls.
 7. In a textile fiber lap comber having arotatable main shaft, means for rotating said main shaft duringoperation of the comber, and a detaching roll adapted during each cycleof operation to be alternately rotated different amounts in advancingand reversing directions to produce a net advance, the improvementcomprising: primary detaching roll drive means connected to an driven bysaid main shaft for imparting said rotation to said detaching roll; andenergy storage restraint means connected to said detaching roll forstoring energy imparted to the same by said primary drive means duringrotation of said detaching roll in its reversing direction, and forreleasing said stored energy during rotation of said detaching roll inits advancing direction to assist said primary drive means in drivingsaid detaching roll in said advancing direction, said energy storagerestraint means including resilient means and cam and follower meansinterposed between said resilient means and said detaching rolleffective to limit the respective storage and release of energy to theterminal portion of said reversing movement and the initial portion ofsaid advancing movement of said detaching roll.
 8. A comber as in claim7, wherein said primary drive means includes adjusting means adjustableduring operation of the comber for then adjustably varying as desiredthe timing of said rotation of said detaching roll.